Chapter 9

From above the Weasley's burrow never looked better. Arthur's new position with the Ministry of Magic allowed them to spend more money on the wedding than previously thought. The gardens along the drive were transformed, under the care of Neville Longbottom, into a carpet of pink, purple and white. Flying above her home Ginny watched Ron and Neville as they worked on the layout of the seating area. Fluer's parents and her sister arrived a few days ago and were helping with the arrangements. The interior of the Weasley's home was transformed as well. The many muggle artifacts Arthur collected over the years were stowed in a shed. Fred and George's room was changed into a cozy guestroom for the Delacour family. During these difficult time the Weasley family had gained respect in the Wizarding World.

Ginny cruised above their home and admired the colorful grounds. Ginny was sent about the task of resetting the new generation of sneak-a-scopes that were positioned in the air above their home. New security devices were being invented every day. The new sneak-a-scope was guaranteed by Professor Moody to be reliable. The only problem was they needed to be reset every 24 hours so the devices could read who was permitted into the area each day. If an unrecognized person entered the area it would explode into a bright red flare and create a marking trail to indicate the direction of the intruder. Ginny enjoyed the solitude on her broom on this bright summer morning. She took the clear orbs in hand and refreshed the faded images of her family and guests with her wand. She came to the last sneak-a-scope and noticed the orb was completely clear.

"Oh No." Ginny said and quickly filled the orb with the images of the Weasley's and their guests. She turned and flew back down to Ron and Neville.

"Now these are my favorites." Neville said to Ron as they walked the gardens. "Not a particularly pretty flower but watch this."

Neville passed his wand over a group of rather plain looking white cone shaped flowers. As he did they each emitted a cloud of shimmering white pollen that floated down around them.

"Cool, huh?" Neville said.

Ginny raced down from sky, and waved the clouds of dust off.

"Ron! Neville!" She said with a cough. "Could you two just stop? I've got something to tell you."

"Yeah, alright" Ron said.

"I forgot to reset one of the sneak-a-scopes last night. What should I do? Do you think I should tell Dad?"

"Ginny, relax, we're all here. We're fine." Ron said calmly.

"But someone could have come into the burrow." Ginny said still worried.

"Now, Why would someone what to do that? I think Dad mostly bought the scopes for the wedding day. He's really just testing them now." Ron said and brushed the dust from his shoulders.

"I think I should tell Dad."

"No, he's got enough to worry about right now. Everything is fine. Forget it." Ron said without concern.

"I suppose. But I'd feel better with a look around." Ginny said

"Suit yourself"

Ginny left them. The first area she checked was the shed filled with muggle artifacts. The lock was still tight and the stacks of things inside were undisturbed. Ginny entered the house through the back door and found her Mom and Mrs.Delacour sitting at the kitchen table. They had stacks of recipes in front of them.

"Ginny?" Mrs Weasley said brightly. "Which do you like better, walnut salad or tapioca and raisins?"

"I don't know, Mom." Ginny said and went upstairs.

She checked all the rooms and the loft. Nothing looked different. Finally, she checked Ron's room. Hary had left one of his trunks from Hogwarts with them because the Dursleys didn't want too many of his things in their house. Harry took with him only a few books he wanted to study and some clothes. Ginny noticed the trunk was recently moved by the dust markings on the floor. She saw one of the latches were opened.

"Ron! Ron stop for a second." Ginny said and interrupted Ron and Neville as they created clouds of beautiful pollen.

"What now, Ginny." Ron said.

"Have you ever opened Harry's school trunk?"

"No, I've never opened it." Ron said.

"Well. One of the latches was opened and someone moved it. Do you think Harry would mind if I checked it out."

"Do what you want Ginny. Harry won't care it's just his old books and robes."

"Yeah, Just old books and robes." Ginny said as she went in the house.

Ginny returned to the trunk and kneeled in front of it. She felt a little nervous and didn't know why. Everyone, including Ginny wanted to know what Harry was planning to do after his birthday. Harry's letters gave her no clue. Somehow she hoped looking in the trunk would help. Harry told everyone that he had no plans to return to Hogwarts in the fall. The Ministry of Magic spoke to him briefly about joining them but he gave them no certain answer. The charms that protected him at the Dursleys would soon expire.

Ron was right, the trunk contained only some old books and robes. Frustrated Ginny paged through Harry's books. Ginny opened the books and tried to shake out notes from between the pages. Finally, Ginny found the binders that contained Harry's notes from his classes. She read the notes from most of his classes and they were as dry and boring as the lectures he had listened to but Divination class was different. Professor Trelawny encouraged her students to explore their feelings so Ginny could see what Harry was thinking during class. He was annoyed by Trelawny's constantly prophesizing his death. When Harry talked about it to her, he always dismissed it lightly but in his writings he seemed much more concerned. Dumbledore's faith in her made Harry think that at least some of what she said was true. He hated his dark past and did not need some one predicting an equally dark future. The writing abruptly came to an end but Ginny continued to leaf through the blank pages.

Ginny noticed a small red spot in the corner of a blank page. The page was in the middle of at least 25 other blank pages but the spot caught her eye. She ran her finger across it and suddenly the page was full of Harry's handwriting.

At the top of the page was the date of Dumbledore's funeral.

My soul is shattered now. I know it's true. The person who reads this will probably think I'm dead and will be a friend. I hope you can forgive me but I think I've found a way to cheat my fate. I hope to see you again soon. Please don't look for me. I will find you. Please understand, I couldn't separate myself from all the dark magic that is in my life and that some of the dark powers I've learned can be used for good. I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you and the others.

See you again soon.

Love,

Harry

Ginny read the note again and again.

"Harry, I don't understand. You're not dead."

By the time she returned to the kitchen the families had gathered for lunch. Ginny sat absently at the table still clutching the notebook to her chest.

"Ginny, We're going to visit the Wizard World Hall of fame this afternoon with the Delacours. Do you want to join us?" Molly Weasley asked. "Ginny, are you all right?"

"Yeah, fine, Mom. I think I'll stay home." Ginny said as she tried to stop thinking about the note. "Are Ron and Neville staying home?"

"Yes, they're staying here to finish work on the backyard."

It felt like hours before her Mom and the Delacours finally left the house. They chatted over lunch, tidied up the kitchen, changed clothes, chatted some more, packed drinks and sandwiches, said good-bye at least four times and left.

"Ron! Neville! I've got to show you something." Ginny said.

Ron and Neville helped themselves to extra ice cream after and went out into the backyard.

"What happened? You find a boggart in Harry's trunk." Ran asked as he finished his second bowl.

"No, something different. A notebook. I think you should read this."

Ginny made the words reappear on the page and Ron and Neville read them over several times as Ginny had done.

"What do you think?"

"I'm not sure." Ron said "I think he was real upset after Dumbledore died. Maybe he felt a little guilty?"

Neville studied the page. "But there's more. Why would he assume he we would think he's dead when we read this? What dark magic?"

"Harry always worried about the dark magic transferred to him from Voldemort but he can control it." Ron said.

"Wait" Ginny said. "Remember that book I found from Tom Riddle?"

" Yeah, So?"

"They said it contained a piece of Voldemort's soul. Harry said 'his soul was shattered'.
What if he learned how to split his soul like Voldemort? What if he created his own horcrux?"
Ginny said and put the notebook down as if it suddenly felt hot.

They sat together in silence for a moment on the back lawn. The sky clouded over and the wind picked up. They thought back over Harry's life.

Ron stood up and said in a loud tone, "Ginny you're crazy. It's not possible because it means……because it means that Harry………….."

Neville said, "Harry killed somebody."

"No" Ron Said

"It's terrible but think about it but Harry was alone with a lot of people when they died. His parents, Cedric, Sirius and Dumbledore." Neville said and crossed his arm against the chill.

"It's not possible." Ron said.

Ginny added, "But what if he didn't mean to hurt them but it just happened. What if he didn't mean to do anything wrong but they died anyway. Is that enough to create a Horcrux?"

Ron said," I don't know. We have to tell Hermione. She would know. She's the one that figured out what Dumbledore and Harry were looking for when they left. She knows more about them than any of us. If what we are thinking it is true we'd have to send the message in secret. We might have to wait for the wedding."

It started to rain. The group went inside.